Article stacking and count facilitating mechanism



sept. 1s, 1962 ARTICLE STACKING AND COUNT FACILITATING MECHANISM Filed 0G12. 26, 1960 H. E. NICOL 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. E. NICOL Sept. 18, 1962 ARTICLE STACKING AND COUNT FACILITATING MECHANISM Filed OCT.. 26, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IVENTOR.

HERBERT E.N|co| M' ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 18, 1962 H. E. NlcoL 3,054,517

ARTICLE sTAcxING AND COUNT FACILITATING MECHANISM Filed oct. ze, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

HERBERT E. NICOL ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 18, 1962 H. E. Nicol. ARTICLE: sTAcxING AND COUNT FACILITATING MECHANISM Filed om. 2e, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

HERBERT E. NICOL ATTO R NEYS United States Patent Ofiice anni Patented Sept. 18, 1962 3,654,517 ARTICLE STACKING AND CGUNT FACILHATBJG MECHANISM Herbert E. Nicol, Milwaukee, Wis., assigner to Pratt Mauufacturing Corp., a corporation of Wisconsin Fiied Oct. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 65,120 lil Claims. (Cl. 214-7) This invention relates to improvements in article stacking and count facilitating mechanism.

In the manufacture of at items such as cut and folded surgical sponges, the articles as .they come off of the machine are customarily delivered into a chute. In the packaging of this type of item it is customary for a predetermined number of the items to be pushed manually from the chute into the end of a bag which has been drawn over the forward portion of the chute.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide improved mechanism for horizontally stacking the items in the chute in such a way as to stagger an item at pre-determined intervals in the chute so as to provide spaced markers indicating a pre-determined count between markers whereby the packaging of an accurately counted number of items is insured and faciliated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device adapted to simultaneously stack duplicate items in two horizontal chutes.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved article stacking and count faciliating mechanism, and all of its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. l is a fragmentary perspective view, principally in elevation looking at the discharge end of a cutting and folding machine for surgical Sponges showing it equipped with the improved mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the machine looking principally at the right hand side of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational View of the mechanism shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top View of the mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the coaction of the gate and lay-up paddle taken approximately on the line 6 6 of FIG, 7;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view partly in vertical section of an upper portion of the apparatus to show the lay-up paddle and gate in side View;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of the layup shaft and paddles; and

FIG. l0 is a wiring diagram.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the device is especially adapted for use in connection with a cutting and folding machine of the type shown and described in Laukhuff Patent No. 2,328,814, dated September 7, 1943, and there is a rotary drum 20, like that of the patent, from which cut and folded items of textile material, or the like, such as gauze, are adapted to be removed. The mechanism of the present invention provides novel means whereby the drum is of double length to deliver pairs of the manufactured items 2l simultaneously as shown in FIG. 1. The items therein illustrated are cut and folded surgical Sponges, but the invention is quite obviously applicable for use with other items having similar characteristics.

FIG. l illustrates the delivery end of the machine and includes an upright end frame 22 supporting horizontal magazines or chutes 23. Each chute has its sides outwardly flared at the receiving end as at 24, and the opposite end is open to facilitate removal of a precounted number of the manufactured items into tubular containers which have been slipped over the projecting ends of the chutes. The chutes are of somewhat greater width than the -width of the articles to be received.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 3 there is a suitably driven cam shaft 25 carrying three cams, 26, 27 and 2S thereon, the cams being one behind another when viewed as in FIG. 3 and being also shown in FIG. 8.

Rockably mounted on a shaft 29 which is suitably journaled in the frame are bellcrank segments 3i), 31 and 32. The segment 3f) is so positioned on its shaft 29 that it is actuated by cam 26. Segment 31 is so positioned as to be actuated by cam 27 and the segment 32 is positioned to be actuated by the cam 28. The segments are yieldingly urged in position toward the cams by coil springs 33, 34 and 35, each spring having one end connected to a projecting portion of the segment and having its other end suitably connected to the frame.

Rock Shaft Shifting Mechanism Pivotally connected to the upper corner of the segment 3i) as at 36 is one end of a rod 37. The other end of said rod is pivotally connected as at 38 to the upper corner of another segment 39 which is pivoted to the frame as at 40. A lower corner of said segment 39 is pivotally connected as at 41 to the lower end of a rod 42 and the latter has its upper end pivotally connected as at 43 to the outer end of a lever arm 44 (see FIG. 4). The lever 44 is also shown in FIG. 2 and it projects from a tube 45 at the lower end of a yoke 46. The latter is pivoted between ears 47 as at 48. Inasmuch as the inner end of the lever 44 is rigidly connected to the sleeve 45 and inasmuch as the sleeves 45 are rigidly connected t0 the sides of the yoke y46, the latter will be oscillated on the axis of the pivot 48 when the lever 44 is moved.

A transverse rock shaft for the lay-up paddles has its ends rotatably received in balls 56, which balls are mounted in spherical sockets 5l of blocks 52 which span the upper ends of the yokes 45. The mounting for one end of the shaft 49 is shown in FIG. 5. The mounting at the opposite end is the same, as is clear from FIG. 9. With this mounting for the ends of the shaft 49 the shaft is free to rock slightly with the balls 50 in their spherical sockets 51 when the yokes 46 are being tilted. Such tilting movement causes an axial shifting of the shaft 49, for a purpose hereinafter to he described. Other types of shifting of the rock shaft may be employed to accomplish the intended purpose.

Rock Shaft Rocking Mechanism Referring again to FIG. 3, the middle cam 27 on the shaft 25 coacts with the segment 31 to rock the latter. An upper portion of the segment 3l has one end of a rod 53 pivotaliy connected thereto as at 54. The other end of the rod 53 is pivotally connected as at 55 to a lower corner of a bellcrank segment 56, the latter being pivoted on a suitably journaled shaft 57. The other corner of the segment 55 has the lower end of a rod 58 pivotally connected thereto as at 59. The upper end of the rod 58 is pivotally connected as at 60 to a lever 6i, the latter having its inner end rigidly connected to the shaft 49. Thus when the segment 32 is tilted by its cam a pull is exerted on the rod 53. Through the segment 56 this causes an upward push on the lower end of rod 5S to push upwardly on lever 61 and rock the shaft 49.

. toward position a.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 9, there are two lay-up paddles 63 rigidly connected to intermediate portions of the shaft 49 in the manner shown in FIGS. 6 and 9. Eachof these paddles includes projected iingers'64 which are uniformly spaced from one another and to which-the folded articles 21 of FiG. lare adapted to be transferred,

such transfer being shown as taking place in FIG. 1. During rocking of the shaft 49 the lay-up paddles are swung from the full line position of FIG. 7 to the upright position a overlapping the inner ends of the oors 65 of the chutes 23 to thus carry articles into position at the rear of the chutes. Y

Gate Operating Ztlecharnsm` Referring again to FIG. 3, the innermost cam 28 on the shaft 25 coacts with the segment 32 to rock the latter at a predetermined period in the rotation of the cam. A rod 66 has its lower end pivotally connected to a'lower'corner of the segment 32 as at 67. The upper end of the rod 66 is pivotally connected as at 63 to the outer end of a lever 69 (see FIG. 1). The inner end of the lever 69 is rigidly connected to a transverse shaft 79 near the-top of the machine, which shaft isV shown in FIGS. l and 7. Referring to these'gures, there are two sets of arms Y7i which have inner ends rigidly connected to theshaft 7i). The outer ends of the arms 71 are pivotally connected tothe ends of a shaft 72 which extends transversely of the upper end of a gate 73. The gate 73 includes downwardly projecting fingers 74 which are guided between rollers 75 (see FIG. 7). When there is an upward push on the lower end of the rod 66 the lever 69 is swung upwardly causing a corresponding rocking of the shaftV 76. This rocking of the shaftV 70 rocksall of the arms 71 in an upward direction to pull the lower ends of the gate fingers 74 from fully lowered retaining positions to an elevated position above the chutes to permit the lay-up paddles to move articles into the receiving ends of the chutes without interference Y Vfrom the gates.y VAfter the lay-up paddles are in dotted line position a'of FIG. 7 to hold the last articles against the rear ofthe stack, then the gate fingers 74 return to the lowered position to retain the newly placed articles in position in the chutes'after thepaddles have beenV withdrawn by rearward rocking movement, suchY withdrawal being permitted because the 4fingers 64 of the paddles can withdraw through the spaces of ngers 74 of the gates as is clear from FIG. 6.

Operation In operation the roll 20 is continuously rotating to transfer fingers 3i) of FIG. 1. The receiving edges of the paddles fingers 64 are preferably faced with a gripping tape 64 to better retain the articles. Y

Thereafter the high area of the inner cam 28 engages the follower on segment 32V to swing the latter in a clockwise direction and exert an upward push on the rod 66. Through the lever 69 on the shaft 70 the latter is rocked in a clockwise direction to swing the arms 71 clockwise and raise the gates to elevated positionswhere they no longer obstruct the entrance of the paddles with the new articles. This raising of the gate is so timed that immediately after the gates have been elevated the paddles are the position a to maintain the'articles at the receiving end of the horizontal stack in position. Thereafter the high side of the cam 2S leaves the Afollower of segment 32 to allow spring 35 to pull the segment back to a lowered position to return the gate fingers 74 to the lowered position. Immediately Ythereafter the high part of the cam 27 leaves the follower of segment 32 to allow thelatter to be pulled back to normal position by its spring 34 and rock the lay-upV paddle shaft 49 in a clockwise direction to return the paddles to the full line position of FiG. 7. As before mentioned, the paddles can move from position a after the gate kfingers 74 are lowered because of the intertit between the paddles lingers 64 and the gate ngers 74. Y

' A standard electric counter electrically connected with a microswitch 105 receives one impulse from said microswitch during each revolution of the cam shaft 25. This is caused by Vthe roller of this microswitch dropping into the low spot 101 on a cam 102 on the cam shaft 25 as shown in FIG. 10. This'counter is a suitable electromagnetic type'rsuch as the Cyclo-Master counter of Badger MeterrCo. The Ycounter is operated by the pulses from switch 105 to energize a -solenoid 81 having a plunger 82. The lower end of the plunger is pivotally connected as at'8`3 to anV arm 84 whose inner end is rigidly connected to a shaft 85, theV latter being journalled in brackets 86 on the frame. Also rigidly mounted on the shaft 85 is a depending latch arm 87 having a'rlower latch end with an'adjustment screw 88 engageable with a pin 89 on the segment 30. This normally prevents the segment 30 from falling into the low portion of its cam 26. The electric counter is arranged to count one unit for each revolution of the shaft 25 and, if the counter is set for 20, for example, then every time the shaft v25 has Vmade twenty revolutions the counter will actuate the bring pairs of completed articles, such .as the folded gauze surgical dressings 21 of FIG. l, to a delivery position. From the roll the articles are removed by oscillating grippers which include auxiliary fingers S0 which are Vadapted to pass between the fingers 64 of the paddles 63 while transferring the articles to edges of the paddle fingers 464.

At a proper point on the cycle a high part ofthe cam 27 engages the follower on segment 31 to rock the'latter in a clockwise direction against the tension of the coil spring 35.V This causes a pull on the rod 53 and a rock- Ving of the segment 56 in a counter-clockwise direction to cause an upward push on the rod 58. Through the lever 62 of FIG. 3 this rocks the lay-up paddle shaft 49 in a counter-clockwise direction to causermovement of Vthe two paddles 63 from the full line position of FIG. 7 Prior to or during such movement each paddle receives an article 21 from the auxiliary position on the upper lsolenoid 81 so that the plunger 82V causes Vrelease of the latch 87 from the pin 89 of segment 30 to permit the segment to fall into the low part of its cam when-said low part is opposite the follower 90 of segment 30.V VThis then causes clockwise rockingl of the segment 30, `a push 011V the rod 37, clockwise rocking of the segment 39 and an upward push on the rod 42 to rock the yokes 46 inwardly and cause an inward axial shift ofthe shaft 49. This causes the paddles64 to be similarly laterally shifted so that the fingers 64 engage o ne space farther to the left, referring to fingers 74, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 6. This shifting of position of the paddles isY permitted because ofthe uniform spacing between the fingersY 64 and 74. VThe lateral shifting of the paddles results in the paddles depositing their articlesin a staggered position on their next upward movement to position a of FIG. 7, with the result, in the illustrated embodiment, kthat the ends of the articles in question will be staggered to project laterally in the chutes'as indicated at 91 inFIG. 1. Thus if the` electric counter is set for 20 then every twentieth article placed in each chute will have a projecting edge as at 91 to form Va counter tab. It'is to be understood that such staggering may be in any desired direction, as long as it causes a count facilitating projection or ltab 91.V

After the predetermined articles have been deposited in staggered position then, upon -return of the paddles, the solenoid plunger will return to normal position with the latch 87 `again holding the segment 30 in Va position to prevent its falling into the low part of its cam. Thus the segment 39 cannot again cause a staggering of the articles until the solenoid is again actuated by the counter, which will be another twenty revolutions of the shaft 25.

The safety switch 77 is connected in the circuit to the solenoid 81 as shown in FIG. l0 to break the circuit thereto whenever the layup paddles are not in a proper rocked position for axial shifting. Thus whenever shaft 49 is being rocked, axial shifting is positively prevented.

From the above it is apparent that a relatively foolproof construction has been devised for depositing the finished items in the chutes in pairs, for holding the deposited articles in place while the lay-up paddles withdraw, and for causing staggered deposit of articles at predetermined intervals for facilitating count. With this arrangement it is a relatively simple matter for the operator to remove a predetermined number for packaging or to push a predetermined number of articles from the chutes into packages which are usually slipped over the projecting ends of the chutes.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and all of said changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

l. In an article stacking and count facilitating device having a frame, a receiving device mounted on said frame having an open receiving end for receiving articles one after another, depositing means including an axially shiftably supported rock shaft in said frame for sequentially depositing articles in said receiving end, normally inoperative cam controlled means including a cam shaft for axially shifting said rock shaft to shift the position of said depositing means with respect to said receiving device, counting means operatively connected to said cam controlled means and responsive to a selected number of revolutions of said cam shaft to render the cam controlled means operative at regular predetermined intervals whereby articles are periodically deposited in staggered position with respect to the other articles for count facilitating purposes, means for driving said cam shaft, and means between said cam shaft and rock shaft for rocking the latter to actuate said depositing means.

2. In an article stacking and count facilitating device having a frame, a rock shaft, means on said frame supporting said rock shaft for oscillatory movement and for shifting movement, a lay-up paddle connected to said rock shaft to be swung when the shaft is rocked, said paddle having a receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, receiving means having spaced sides and having an open receiving end, means on the frame supporting said receiving means in a position where its receiving end is entered by a paddle when lthe latter has been swung by the rock shaft whereby an article on the paddle is placed in said receiving end of the receiving means against a row of like juxtaposed articles which have been previously deposited, and means for periodically and temporarily shifting said mounting means for the rock shaft at regular intervals whereby articles are periodically deposited in staggered position with respect to the other articles in the receiving means for count facilitating purposes, said sides of the receiving means being so spaced and the receiving means being so positioned with respect to the paddle that the paddle can enter the receiving means both before and after said shifting of the rock shaft has occurred.

3. In an article stacking and count facilitating device having a frame, a rock shaft, means on said frame supporting said rock shaft forroscillatory movement and for shifting movement, a lay-up paddle connected to said rock shaft to be swung when the shaft is rocked, said paddle having a receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, a receiving chute having an open receiving end, and having sides spaced apart a distance greater than Ithe width of the articles, means on the frame supporting 6 `said chute in a position where its receiving end is entered by a paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position by the rock shaft whereby an article on the paddle is placed edgewise in said receiving end of the chute against a row of like juxtaposed articles which have been previously deposited, with the majority of articles adjacent one side of the chute, means for periodically and temporarily shifting said mounting means for the rock shaft at regular intervals whereby articles are periodically staggered toward the other side of the chute for count facilitating purposes, and interrelated driving mechanism for said rock shaft and for said shifting means.

4. In an article stacking and count facilitating device having a frame, a rock shaft, means on said frame supporting said rock shaft for oscillatory movement and for shifting movement, a plurality of lay-up paddles connected to -said rock shaft to be swung simultaneously when the shaft is rocked, said paddles having a receiving position for receiving articles to be stacked, a receiving chute for each paddle, each chute having an open receiving end, means on the frame supporting said chutes in a position 'where each receiving end is entered by a paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position by the rock shaft whereby an article on each paddle is placed in said receiving end of a chute against a row of like juxtaposed articles which have been previously deposited, means for periodically and temporarily shifting said mounting means for the rock shaft at regular intervals whereby articles are periodically deposited in staggered position with respect to the other articles in each chute for count facilitating purposes, and interrelated driving mechanism for causing oscillatory movement of said rock shaft and for operating said shifting means.

5. In an article stacking device having a frame, spaced yokes pivoted to said frame, a rock shaft mounted in said yokes for .rocking movement and for axial shifting movement with the yokes when the yokes are swung, a lay-up paddle connected to said shaft intermediate said yokes to be swung when the shaft is rocked, said shaft having a receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, a receiver having an open receiving end, means on the frame supporting said receiver in a position where its receiving end is entered by a paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position whereby articles delivered one after another by the paddle are placed sequentially in the receiver, and means for periodically and temporarily swinging said yokes to move the rock shaft axially whereby articles are periodically deposited in staggered position with respect to other articles in the receiver for count facilitating purposes.

6. In an article lstacking device having a frame, a rock shaft mounted in said frame for oscillatory and for axial shifting movement, a plurality of lay-up paddles having equally spaced projecting ngers connected to said shaft to be swung simultaneously when the shaft is rocked, said paddles having `a receiving position for simultaneously receiving articles to lbe stacked, la receiving chute for each paddle, each chute having an open receiving end, means supporting each chute in a position where its receiving end is entered by a paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position whereby an article on the paddle is placed edgewise in the receiving end of the chute against a row of like justaposed articles which have previously been deposited, gate means for each chute including equally spaced fingers arranged to receive the fingers of a paddle therebetween and positioned and arranged to retain the articles in position in the chutes while the paddle fingers withdrawlfrom between the gate fingers, means for periodically shifting said rock shaft axially whereby the ngers of the paddles are laterally shifted one space with respect to the fingers of the gates and whereby articles are periodically deposited in laterally staggered position in the chute with respect to other articles for count facilitating purposes, and interrelated driving mechanismV for oscillating said rock'shaft and operating said gate means and forV operating said shifting means.

7. In an article stacking and count facilitating device having a frame, a rock shaft, means on said frame-supporting said rock shaft for oscillatory movement and for shifting movement, a lay-upV paddle having equally sp-aced projecting fingers connected to said rock shaft to be swungV when the shaft is rocked, said paddle havin-g a receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, receiving means having spaced sides and having an open receiving end, means supporting said receiving means in a position where its receiving end is entered by a paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position by the rock shaft whereby an article on the paddle is placed in said receiving end of the receiving means against a row `of like juxtaposed articles which have been previously deposited, a gate including equally spaced fingers arranged to receive the ngers of a paddle therebetween and positioned to retain the articles in position in the receiving means while the paddle fingers withdraw from between the gate rfingers, and means for periodically and temporarily shifting said mounting means for the rock shaft at regular-'intervals whereby the fingers on the paddle are laterally shifted one space with respect to the fingers ofthe gate and whereby articles are periodically deposited in staggered position with respect to the other articles in the receiving means for count facilitating purposes, said sides of the receiving means being so spaced and the -receiving means being so positioned with respect to the paddle that the paddle can enter the receiving means both before and after said shifting of the rock shaft has oc- Y curred.

8. In an article stacking device having a frame, spaced yokes pivoted to said frame, a rock shaft mounted in said yokes for rocking movement and for axial shifting movement when the yokes are swung, a lay-up paddle connected to said shaft to be swung when the shaft is rocked, said shaft having a receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, a receiver having an open receiving end, means supporting said receiver in a position where its receiving end is entered by the paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position whereby articles are placed sequentially in the receiver by the paddle, a cam shaft journaled in said frame, a

cam on said shaft having highland low portions, a lever pivoted to said frame adjacent said cam and having a follower positioned to be engaged by said cam, means between said lever and-said yokes for causing swinging of said yokes when a predetermined portion of the cam is acting on said cam follower, a counter responsive to Y rotation of said rock shaft, means normally maintain-V ing the follower of said lever out of engagement with its cam, and means responsive to said counter for periodically releasing said lever so that it is acted upon by said cam to cause axial shifting of the rock shaft whereby an article is periodically deposited in staggered position in the receiver with respect to other articles for count facilitating purposes.

9. In an article stacking device having a frame, a rock shaft mounted in said frame for oscillatory and for axial shifting movement, a lay-up paddle having equally spaced 8 projecting fingers connected KYto said shaft to be swung when the `shaft is rocked, said' paddle having ak receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, a receiving chute for said paddle, said chute having an open receiving end, means supporting lsaid chute in a position where its receiving end is entered by the paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position whereby an article on the paddle is placed edgewise'in the receiving end of `the chute against a row of like juxtaposed articlesv which have previously been deposited, gate means for the' chute including equally spaced fingers arranged to receive the fingers ofthe paddle therebetween and positioned and arranged to retain the articles in position in the chute' while the paddle ngers withdraw from between the gate` fingers, means for periodically shifting said rock shaft axially whereby the fingers of the paddle are laterallyv shifted one space with respect to the iingers ofthe gate and whereby articles are periodically deposited in laterally staggered position in the `chute with respect to other articles for count facilitating purposes, and interrelated driving mechanism for oscillating said rock shaft for operating said gate means and for operating said Vshifting means. Y

l0. In an article stacking device having a frame, spaced yokes pivoted to said frame, a rock shaft mounted in said yokes for rocking movement and for axial shifting movement when the yokes are swung, a lay-up paddle connected to said shaft to be swung when the shaft is rocked, said shaftY having a receiving position for receiving an article to be stacked, a receiver having an open receivingend, means supporting said receiver in a position where its receiving end is entered by the paddle when the latter has been swung from its receiving position, whereby articles are placed sequentially in Kthe receiver by the paddle, a cam shaft journaled in said frame, a cam on said shaft having high and low portions, a lever pivoted to said :frame adjacent said cam and having a follower positioned to be engaged by said cam, means between said lever and said yokes for causing swinging of said yokes when a predetermined portion of the cam is acting on said cam lfollower to cause axial shifting of kthe rock shaft whereby an article is periodically deposited in staggered position in the receiver with respect to other articles for count facilitating purposes, gate means for said receiver, a second cam on -said shaft having high and low portions, a lever pivoted to the frame adjacent said second cam and having a follower positioned to be engaged by saidcam, means ibetween said lever and said lgate means for causing operation of said gate means at predetermined times, a third cam on said cam shaft having high and low portions, a'leverfpivoted to said frame adjacent said third cam `and having a follower positioned to be engaged by said cam, and means between said lever and said rock shaft forV rocking the latter to cause operation of the lay-up paddle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hopwood Mar. 27, 1956 

